Nicholas's Otherworldly Tales

The Pilgrimage

Nikos Markell awoke with a start as he was pulled from his hibernation pod by a couple tall, roughly dressed men, one human and one species he didn't recognize. Nikos rubbed the sleep out of his four eyes and looked tiredly at the pair.

"Is it time already?" he asked, "Can't I get five more minutes?"

With a bit of a push, the men showed Nikos they wouldn't wait. They led him down the well-worn passageways of the starship careful to avoid any portholes. As they would approach, any screen displaying data on their surroundings shut down.

"Do I get a hint or anything?" Nikos asked jokingly of the men.

He received only a stern look as a reply. It seemed to Nikos that they weren't in a joking mood. They continued down the hallways to the ship's hangar. Once inside, they approached a small solar sailship, outdated and not suitable for combat, but still a favorite of the Free Nomads, Nikos's people. The door of the ship opened and out came a blue-skinned woman in ornate ceremonial garb, the blue and white patterning of which was reminiscent of the clothes worn by the men guiding Nikos. Both the men and Nikos knelt and bowed low before her. She gave a slight bow before standing back up straight.

"Nikos Markell, the time has come for your pilgrimage," The woman said, "I have found this ship suitable for the task. Are you prepared?"

"I believe I am," replied Nikos.

"You believe you are, or you are?" Questioned the woman.

"I am," corrected Nikos.

"Better," stated the woman, "Prepare yourself to undertake the journey."

Nikos stepped inside the small yet long-range ship and began to don a pilot's suit in the same blue and white colors of the others around him. He thought about what he was about to do: The Great Pilgrimage, the final test of any Free Nomad navigator. He had trained from a very young age, about seven galactic standard years, to become a navigator. He was taught how to pilot ships both large and small as well as how to read star charts and use them to navigate the galaxy. Since his training began, he had been taught to memorize the charts and the relative positions of all the major stars in the galaxy. If he was truly ready to be a navigator, he would be able to find his way anywhere without needing a computer or database, and that was what The Great Pilgrimage tested. Potential navigators were brought to an unknown location, dropped alone in a small ship with no functional nav computer, and told to find their way back to the Trail's Beginning, the world the first Free Nomads originated from.

When Nikos finished putting on his suit and sat down in the pilot's chair, the door snapped shut behind him and the ship's engine hummed to life. Nikos was startled as he hadn't touched any of the controls, but calmed quickly when he noticed an indicator screen displayed the message "Remote Pilot Active". He relaxed his grip on the steering implements and sat back in his chair.

"May the stars light your path," said the voice of the woman through the ship's comm system, "and lead you home."

Nikos watched as the hangar doors opened to the cold expanse of space, a semi-permeable force-field still holding in the air. The ship lifted off the floor and exited the hangar.

As it left, Nikos was already attempting to study the stars, but something happened that Nikos did not expect. The ship suddenly began spinning and lurching in random directions. The movement of the ship was extremely disorienting, and Nikos was beginning to get motion sick. His normally pale-yellow skin was turning a sickly shade of green as he attempted to hold in his vomit. As he stared out the window, the stars became elongated streaks of light.